Below is the second part to Zhenia’s story of escape from Mariupol with his family. Please find the first part of the story here: Zhenia - Part 1
I together with several people from our basement, decided to escape. We planned to get to Staryi Krym (a nearby town) on foot. It was me, my wife, my son, two babies in strollers, and their mothers. We walked near Port City (the shopping mall) and it was completely destroyed. We saw mines and destroyed tanks and artillery. There were fires and ashes.
So we kept on walking. We came to the first roadblock, where the Russians checked whether we had patriotic tattoos. When we came to Staryi Krym, we were thankful to the local inhabitants. As soon as they found out that we came from Mariupol, they brought us milk, food, napkins, and so on. Because the village was occupied by the Russians as well, the people did not have much food themselves and they still shared with us. We stayed there for two days and then decided to move to a further town.
I met a woman who was heading to Nikolske and we paid her 300 UAH ($10) to ride with her. I took only a piggy bank of my son right before the airstrike at our house, so we did not have much money with us.
Nikolske was also occupied and there were police and soldiers from DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic). The DPR military is even worse than the Russians. Of course, they are controlled by Russia, but they are more lawless. The road from Staryi Krym to Nikolske was exhausting but we managed to get to Nikolske. There we had two options: either go to Rostov-on-Don or go to Donetsk (occupied). We wanted to get to the part of Ukraine that was not occupied by Russia, so we started to search for other alternatives.
We found out that there were people who also wanted to get to the west side. On the road, we saw buses with signs that said "Zaporizhzha," but unfortunately, they all started turning around and going in the other direction. We asked Nikolske’s authorities about these buses, and they replied that the bus drivers were being arrested. The authorities said that buses were now only allowed to go to the occupied Donetsk region. We began to ask people whether someone knew how to get to the west.
We talked to a woman. I don’t remember her name, but I hope she is alive and healthy at the moment. She told us that she could help us get out of Nikolske and into the Ukrainian-controlled territory. There were two minivans, and the trip cost 500 UAH ($17). There was a long queue of people waiting for those buses. So we wrote down our names on the waiting list. We stayed there for several days.
We lived in the school in awful conditions. There are photos where you can see how the Russian world ruins people’s lives. You can see that my child slept in such inadequate conditions.
One morning, we went out of school and saw the woman who was organizing the trips. Two DPR soldiers came to her and told her that they did not allow her to make money from poor Mariupol people. They arrested her, and we did not see her again.
All the people who wanted to go to Ukraine stayed together. We did not know how to do this. We hoped to go with this woman, but she was arrested. The only option now was to go to another town called Berdiansk. But there was an announcement by the Russians that all men and women should go through a filtration camp. Such a disgusting word, "filtration." How can it be used in regards to people? Filtration of Ukrainians on Ukrainian land? They threatened people that if they did not go through a filtration camp, they would not have a chance to get out of there.
I realized that I could not go to that filtration camp as I had always supported Ukraine. They checked everything -- telephone numbers, social networking, pictures, and so on. So I would not have successfully made it through that filtration camp. My wife also would not have made it, so we decided to take a risk – just write our names on the list without going to filtration camp. On the list, our names were numbered one thousand and something. However, when the bus arrived, some people from that list were absent, so we just jumped on the bus.
I should mention that we did not have any money at the time. But we had a few packs of cigarettes. So we went to the market and sold them for 1500 UAH ($50) and spent it on the bus to Berdiansk.
In Berdiansk, one day we had a mobile connection, but the next day it was cut off. We stayed in a hotel that was free for refugees. We were waiting for evacuation buses sponsored by the Red Cross. But there was no information about the time or place of departure. Berdiansk was already occupied as well. So we did not want to stay there. We chose to go on foot to the suburbs of Berdiansk near the central road. There in the field, we stayed for two days. We asked to stay at night at the church but the priest refused, so we slept at a ruined gas station. That night was awful. There were Russian, Chechen, and DPR soldiers there. They checked and threatened everyone. My child slept on pallets for 2 nights. When there was finally information that the buses had left Zaporizhzhia and were coming to Berdiansk, there were over 2000 people waiting for them in the field outside of town. Russian soldiers decided to build a polygon[MOU1] nearby and start shooting. All the people ran away and hid where they could. We decided to run to the nearest village and wait for the buses there.
My son’s birthday is on the 1st of April. During this time, he was telling me, "Dad, my birthday is the 1st of April. I want to get out of here on my birthday. Please, Dad, I want to have a holiday! I don’t want to stay here." Can you imagine our happiness when on the 31st of March we sat on the bus and on the 1st of April we left that place?
There were 45 buses, a huge line of buses. On the 1st of April, our buses departed. I told my son, "Mark, can you imagine? Your birthday is the day of our rescue."
There were eight roadblocks ahead. At each roadblock, all the men in the buses were checked. At 2 roadblocks, they checked women too. They undressed people and inspected tattoos. Two men from the buses were taken off. I don’t know what happened to them. I saw that the soldiers wrapped those men’s heads with duct tape.
It took us a total of 14 hours to get from Berdiansk to Vasylivka (144KM/90 Miles). When we arrived, there was a huge line of cars to get into Vasylivka. There we saw artillery shelling. We were on a bus; all the lights were turned off, so the buses could barely drive.
When the buses stopped, we heard the Ukrainian language. It was a Ukrainian soldier. People were so happy to see the Ukrainian military, that all the passengers applauded and cried. We managed to get out of the real hell.
We took a bus to Zaporizhzhia. In Zaporizhzhia, a volunteer gave us food and drinks. When they found out that it was my son’s birthday, a woman gave him presents. We stayed in a kindergarten school and these were much better conditions. We are grateful to Zaporizhzhia. Finally, my son could sleep in a peaceful atmosphere. We took a shower and were still in disbelief that we were there. In the morning, we got on a train to Lviv.
I want to say thanks to a volunteer who was with us on a train. She supported us during the trip. From Lviv, we went to Drogobych, where we lived in my aunt’s house for a bit. We have now moved into a dormitory. Drogobych supports us so much. I came to the market to buy sneakers, and when a seller found out that we were from Mariupol, she gave those sneakers for free. We were amazed by such an attitude. We had only a backpack with us when we left our destroyed apartment in Mariupol.
I love Ukrainian history and literature. My son has experienced so much. I had to tell him to forget about Ukraine because at roadblocks or just with Russian soldiers it could cause problems.
I wanted to add that my mother-in-law also managed to flee from Mariupol. She lived in a basement with a cat and three dogs. She was deported to Russia and made to stay in a camp. However, Russian volunteers helped her to get out of there to another country. From there she also came here, to us, with three dogs and one cat. Now she lives near Drogobych near us, where she rented a house.
We are happy to be alive. We believe in our victory! I want to tell you that I survived there, in Mariupol, and still have many friends there. And from the beginning, I believe in Ukraine. This war is against Ukraine. It’s a genocide of our nation, language, and culture. Ukraine will win! Slava Ukraini!
Tune in next week when I will be sharing a story of another Zhenia, a journalist that had to leave her home country when the war broke out. I will also be sharing my own story and what led me to start this project!